Vadim Vasilyev (businessman)
Vadim Vasilyev is the former Vice President of the Monégasque football club AS Monaco FC. He was appointed to that position on 8 August 2013 and has since played a key role in developing AS Monaco's team and securing its position, including negotiating key agreements with Ligue 1 and with UEFA around its Financial Fair Play Regulations. He has also gained a reputation as an effective operator in the transfer market, beginning with a number of high-profile signings completed during the 2013 summer transfer window. He was sacked soon after the return of manager Leonardo Jardim on 14 February 2019 due to Monaco's poor form.
Education and career
Vasilyev graduated with a degree in economics from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1987. He worked for the Soviet Union's Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1987 to 1990, during which he was posted to the Soviet Embassy in Iceland.Following his diplomatic career, Vasilyev then worked for a number of different private companies, including Uralkali, the world's leading producer of potash, where he was Director of Exports. Later on, he established his own company and worked as an entrepreneur developing several different businesses.
Football Management career
Vasilyev had always had a strong knowledge of and great interest in football – both the Russian domestic game and club football across Europe. In January 2013, he started working as an advisor to the president of AS Monaco FC, Dmitry Rybolovlev, helping the club to complete a number of significant transfer deals during the winter window of the 2012–13 season. During that period as an advisor, he developed a strong working relationship with key executives at AS Monaco as well further developing his knowledge of the transfer market and team management. He was subsequently asked to join the club on a permanent basis and became the sporting director on 25 March 2013. He became vice president during the summer 2013.In the role of sporting director, Vasilyev was in charge of managing Monaco's first-team squad, player recruitment, the scouting service, the coaching staff, the medical service and the club's player academy.
As of 15 October 2013, Vasilyev, in addition to his role as vice president, assumed the role of director general for Monaco.
Following his initial appointment, his first objective was to ensure that the club achieved promotion to Ligue 1 during the 2012–13 season, thereby returning to the top flight of French football only two years after Monaco's relegation to Ligue 2 in 2011. This goal was achieved comfortably after Monaco ended the season as 2012–13 Ligue 2 champions.
After achieving its goal of promotion, Vasilyev was closely focused on managing the club's summer transfer window. During this transfer window, Vasilyev targeted the recruitment of major players – both French and foreign – that he and the club believed would help them achieve their objective of becoming a major force in Ligue 1. The high-profile new recruits in that period included Eric Abidal, Jérémy Toulalan, Ricardo Carvalho, Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, Radamel Falcao, João Moutinho and James Rodríguez.
Together with the president of the club, Vasilyev set a primary goal of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League and playing in the competition during the 2014–15 season. Vasilyev was quoted as saying, "We are very ambitious and we have great hopes, but winning the title is of course very difficult. Ligue 1 is a high-level and demanding championship, with very good and experienced teams. Our primary goal is to qualify and play the Champions league as soon as possible."
Vasilyev also played a critical role in the resolution of the protracted conflict between AS Monaco and the Ligue de Football Professionnel over the fiscal status of the Principality of Monaco. The dispute was finally resolved in July 2015. During the dispute, Vasilyev consistently promoted a message of unity across French football, suggesting that the game in France overall can benefit greatly from the development of Monaco and the influx of new and exciting talent to the League. He said at the time, "Most important is that French Football will benefit a lot from AS Monaco FC. We are adversaries only on the pitch, after we need to work together to improve the level of the league. That’s our goal."
Vasilyev also helped the club reach an agreement with UEFA over Financial Fair Play Regulations, an important step that has enabled it to pursue a clear transfer strategy moving forward.
The 2015 summer transfer window was an extraordinary time for Monaco in terms of the number of transfers agreed and the profit made from them. Transfers in and out include Monaco, to 31 August 2015, include:
| Departures | Arrivals |
| Anthony Martial – €80M | Ivan Cavaleiro – €15M |
| Geoffrey Kondogbia – €42M | Adama Traoré – €14M |
| Aymen Abdennour – €30M | Rony Lopes – €10M |
| Layvin Kurzawa – €24M | Guido Carrillo – €9M |
| Yannick Carrasco – €20M | Boschilia – €9M |
| Radamel Falcao – €10M | Allan Saint-Maximin – €5M |
| Lucas Ocampos – €7M | Thomas Lemar – €4M |
| Nicolas Isimat-Mirin – €3M | Corentin Jean – €4M |
| Farès Bahlouli – €3M | |
| Total departures: €216,000,000 | Total arrivals: €73,000,000 |
Vasilyev's acumen in the transfer market has been praised by his counterparts in the French league.
"Whether it is Luis Campos, Nicolas Holveсk or Vadim Vasilyev - the vice-president of the club and negotiator number one when it comes to talking about money. He is very smart and educated, he always demonstrates perfect behavior and great knowledge," said Jean-Michel Vandamme, the director of Ligue 1 club Lille who negotiated the deal of Adama Traoré to Monaco.
In an interview with FranceFootball.fr, Vasilyev spoke about the sports policy of Monaco, numerous transfers of players during the summer transfer window and the ambitions of club owner Dmitry Rybolovlev.
At the beginning of 2016, Monaco appointed Claude Makélélé as technical director to assist Vasilyev as well as work with manager Leonardo Jardim and his first-team squad. Upon being appointed, Makélélé said, "My meeting with Vadim Vasilyev was decisive in my decision to join AS Monaco and this project is based on the long term."
In January 2016, Monaco signed Brazilian defender Jemerson from Atlético Mineiro. The 23-year-old signed a five-year contract after the two clubs agreed a fee reported to be in the region of €10 million. After the agreement was reached, Vasilyev said, "We are very proud to welcome Jemerson, a young Brazilian defender whom we have been tracking regularly. We have a lot of faith in him. He will have the opportunity to develop at AS Monaco, and we are sure he will soon be showing all of his qualities".
In February 2016, at the Globe Soccer Awards for the 2015–16 season, the best deal award made during the two FIFA football transfer windows was presented in Monte Carlo to Vasilyev. The Best Transfer Market Club Award went to Monaco, who had also previously been rewarded in 2014–15 after James Rodríguez's transfer to Real Madrid during the summer of 2014. This time, the GSA jury decided to reward Monaco for the deal that saw Anthony Martial move to Manchester United in the summer of 2015. In the era of financial fair play, many football observers believe that Monaco has shown itself to be a case study, and not only for these two deals that impressed football pundits and the Globe Soccer Awards jury, which included Fabio Capello, Antonio Conte and Luís Figo, among others.
Vasilyev commented on the award: "I am very happy, this prize rewards all the work done for the past three years. We always tried to have better financial performances with good sporting results. I am proud of our Champions League campaign last year, and also of this Ligue 1 season. I hope we will come back in Champions League next season while maintaining the economic stability of the club".